Elder's Kaden Estep is rewriting Panther records in senior season

Nearly 40 years ago, Steve Keller dominated the Elder Panther quarterback records. The starting quarterback in 1987 and 1988, Keller amassed 4,816 yards and 45 touchdowns in his career.

Twenty years after Keller, Mark Miller led Elder to the Division I state championship game in 2008 and the semifinals in 2009. Along the way, he broke both of Keller's career records with 5,872 yards and 56 touchdowns.

Miller's touchdown record still stands, but his yardage record didn't get that 20-year cushion. First, Peyton Ramsey broke it with 6,708 yards (and took second with 49 touchdowns) from 2013 to 2015, but the Elder record books were rewritten again in 2026 and the pencil is still sharpened to take down another.

Elder senior quarterback and Cincinnati Bearcats commit Kaden Estep broke Ramsey's record with a 13-yard pass to Jake Bier in a 62-6 win over Mount Zion Prep on Oct. 23. Estep finished the game with 6,861 career passing yards. His five touchdown passes in that game put him at 53 for his career, just three behind Miller.

"Earned," Ramsey, now an assistant coach at Elder, posted on X after Estep's record-breaking night. "The greatest QB to ever put on the uniform. Period. An absolute winner. All of it a byproduct of the type of teammate he is. Keep going!"

Since Estep took over as a sophomore in 2024, Elder has gone 26-9, including an undefeated 2025 regular season and Greater Catholic-League South championship. It was Elder's first GCL-South crown since Ramsey led Elder to a split with St. Xavier in 2015 and first solo title since Miller led the Panthers in '08.

Miller, now a teacher at Taylor, was previously the head coach for the Yellowjackets after coaching junior varsity at Elder. Seeing Ramsey initially break his yardage record was a full-circle moment.

"I remember Peyton and I remember one of (assistant coach) Craig James' sons, Jakob, being ball boys and running around," Miller said. "Your typical coach's kid that Peyton is has been living, breathing and eating Elder football since the time he could walk, I'm sure.

"It's been fun to watch to kind of watch him progress from the player that I got to watch after I graduated to the coach and the teacher that he is now."

Miller got an early look at what Coach Peyton Ramsey would look like when Ramsey was just starting his college career at Indiana.

"I texted him," Miller said. "I was like, 'Hey, I need your help on drawing some of these plays up because I've been removed far enough now where all this language is new.' When I asked (Elder head coach) Doug (Ramsey), I said, 'Doug, do you have a playbook for me?' And I'll never forget it; he literally pointed to his head and that was it. I was like, 'Well, I'm going to need some help from the guy who was just here.'

"Even then and obviously as a player, he was special and could break things down and do things a lot better than other players in the past have. Just seeing how cerebral he was at the time as a 19-, 20-year-old kid, you know he could have coached that offense while he was playing and certainly while he was in college."

Ramsey is in his sixth season as an assistant for his dad. He and Estep are the only two quarterbacks to be three-year starters in Doug's 30 seasons as Elder head coach.

The younger Ramsey ‒ who still clears all other Elder QBs with 9,400 total yards of offense, according to Elder statistician Kelby Siler ‒ has worked closely with Estep to turn him from a good sophomore to an all-time great high school quarterback.

Estep had 1,908 yards and 12 touchdowns to eight interceptions as a sophomore in 2024 when Elder went 6-6. He also ran for 189 yards on 91 carries with two touchdowns and six fumbles.

The next season, Estep led Elder to a 12-1 record and a trip to the regional finals. He threw for 2,430 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 924 more yards and 10 touchdowns on 131 carries.

Estep's senior season, with an upcoming playoff game against Springboro, has seen him flip a Miami RedHawks commitment to a Cincinnati Bearcats commitment. The Bearcat offer came two days after a loss to St. Xavier, where he completed 20-of-26 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns, with 72 rushing yards and another score.

In 10 games in 2026, Estep has completed 164 of 223 passes for 2,523 yards and 26 touchdowns, with just three picks. He has run for 780 yards and eight touchdowns.

Estep needs three touchdowns to tie Miller for the career mark, a number Estep has done eight times in his career, including five times this season.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elder's Kaden Estep is rewriting Panther records in senior season